Dell XPS

[Jestjoan]

Does anyone have a Dell XPS computer? I think the model DH is looking at is 420. The salesman just called to tell about a special where one can get $500 off with a purchase of a 3 year warranty...........

 

[fsbkevin]

I bought a 410 a year ago. I've been very happy with it other than some self-inflicted glitches from updating to Vista, but that's not a Dell problem. Graphics are very good (although you have option on which video card you want, so it may depend on your choice.) Works well for video and games. Monitor is very sharp. Get plenty of RAM if you order Vista.

 

[Jestjoan]

We don't want Vista but Dell says XP won't be supported much longer. We just are planning to get the box since we have the other "stuff". I hope that won't be a problem......

 

[Icarus]

We don't want Vista but Dell says XP won't be supported much longer. We just are planning to get the box since we have the other "stuff". I hope that won't be a problem......

Microsoft will support XP Home/Pro/MCE until 2014, unless they extend it further. What's supposed to end soon is the sale of Windows XP on new computers, but they might extend that again if they have to.

I've looked at the specs for the XPS 420, and it looks like a very nice machine.

-David

 

[chrisnwillie]

We actually have 3 XPS's. 2 Desktops and one Laptop. Fantastic machines, expecially if someone is a gamer.

We installed Vista on one of the three (the last one we purchased in early 2007) and if not for the fact that my son is a programmer (BS in computer science), we would never have gotten it to work. It bombed the video and sound card, of which there were not drivers to support vista.

He finally got it to work.

I'd stick with XP and insist that's the operating system you want. At least for now.

 

[Jestjoan]

Thanks

Thanks so much for the replies. I think we will stick with XP.

We do not have any computer expertise.

David, where did you find that date? I couldn't find it on the MS site.

Our present computer would still work if we didn't need to buy the overly expensive RAM talked about here in another thread.........

 

[chrisnwillie]

http://digg.com/microsoft/Microsoft_Extends_Windows_XP_Support_To_2014_2

 

[Jestjoan]

It's on a Vista machine only........

 

[Icarus]

Thanks so much for the replies. I think we will stick with XP.

We do not have any computer expertise.

David, where did you find that date? I couldn't find it on the MS site.

Our present computer would still work if we didn't need to buy the overly expensive RAM talked about here in another thread.........

Well, I knew about it from reading this stuff on the internet (usually theenquirer.net), but I wanted to verify what I knew before posting it, so I found that same Digg article, but I searched a bit more and also found it on the uSoft web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3223

There's a similar page for XP Home and MCE with the same dates. Extended support means security updates, which is fine. On the other hand, mainstream support for XP SP3, which is coming out soon (maybe next quarter, I think?) will also have a 4 - 5 year initial support period and another extended support period, so XP SP3 will probably end up living longer than 2014.

What's the make/model of the computer that needs more memory? Why is it "expensive"? RAM is usually very cheap these days.

I agree that Vista is the downside to buying the XPS 420, but the initial problems that people had with Vista upgrades and drivers won't affect this, since it comes pre-installed with Vista. You might (or might not) have problems finding drivers for older printers, scanners, etc for Vista, but you can check that in advance if you want to try it.

I just bought an XPS m1330 notebook, and I researched it to make sure I could install XP Pro on it before I bought it. There's extensive user support for installing XP Pro on the m1330, and Dell followed up by listing all the drivers and apps for it on their support pages (officially) under XP Pro. Even the media direct thing works if you install it properly. When I looked at the specs for the XPS 420 a few weeks ago, I couldn't find anything similar for it, so I think you would be forced to use Vista on it for now. Plus, I doubt you would want to mess with a clean OS install even if it was available to you.

A week or two after I bought my "refurbished" m1330 (the only thing that seems to make it "refurbished" is a "refurbished" sticker on the bottom of it) they started pushing a sale on it, so if you bought it with the 3 year service/support agreement, it was about the same price as what I paid for mine. I think Dell is trying to push their sales for this quarter, so all these deals might disappear soon.

-David

 

[Aussiedog]

I need a new computer and when I went to the online Dell store it looked like my only option was Vista.

Did you learn that you could actually purchase a new machine from them with XP?

That would be great. These machines don't last that long anyway and maybe by the time my next machine goes to computer heaven they will have worked the bugs out of Vista? Right......

Ann

 

[Icarus]

Did you learn that you could actually purchase a new machine from them with XP?

Go to dell.com, select desktops home/home office and on the left hand side there's a link "Still looking for Windows XP?" under "Essential links".

You can also look under Dell small biz, and select "Windows XP" on the left hand column under "Operating Systems". Small Biz probably has a better selection.

-David

 

[Aussiedog]

Excellent - thanks!

I was just using their "customize it" menu and that had no OS options.
Clearly I did not spend a lot of time on the search. I just replaced 2 printers and the computer is next - I'll get really serious after the first of the year.

I know some people love this stuff, but for me buying a new computer is like going to the dentist. (hope no dentists see this)

Ann

 

[Jestjoan]

It is a Dell Demension 8200. I think it has RAMBUS RDRAM.

An article from PC Mag from my DB:
"DDR and Other Inscrutable Acronyms
Any computer that you bought in 2001 or later uses a type of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) known as double data rate, commonly referred to as DDR. It simply refers to memory in which two data items are transmitted with each clock signal. It replaced single data rate SDRAM. (The S stands for synchronous.) DDR memory is also synchronous, and you may sometimes see DDR memory referred to as DDR SDRAM.

DDR also replaced RDRAM, so called because Rambus Corp. developed the standard. Rambus memory offered substantially higher memory bandwidth than SDRAM. However, RDRAM was always more expensive than SDRAM, and DDR's lower cost and equivalent throughput eventually canceled out any performance advantages RDRAM offered.

In 2003, a new generation of DDR memory, DDR2, appeared with Intel Pentium 4 processors. Because AMD Athlon 64 CPUs had integrated memory controllers, DDR2 support didn't appear in AMD processors until the launch of a new lineup in 2006 that used the AM2 socket.

DDR2 differs from DDR in that the bus carrying the data runs twice as fast as the actual memory clock. For example, older DDR memory that is clocked at 200 MHz clocks the I/O bus at 200 MHz and can transfer data at 3.2 gigabytes per second.

Meanwhile, DDR2 memory that runs at the same 200 MHz runs the I/O bus at 400 MHz. Each I/O bus clock cycle still carries two items of data, but the increased bus clock effectively doubles the maximum throughput to 6.4 GBps."

 

[Jestjoan]

another brother email

He wrote: Here’s another paragraph (about the type of RAM in your computer) from further on in the same article:



For an even older Intel system using the Intel 850 chipset running RDRAM, you definitely want to avoid buying more memory. RDRAM is hugely expensive, when you can find it—as pricey as $500 for a pair of 512MB modules. You're much better off just buying an entirely new system.

 

[Jestjoan]

Ann, we've been talking to a very nice and patient young man at Dell. I'm not certain how long the sale on the Vista computers will last.

DH is ordering the computer with Vista. We get a 30 day trial.

PM me if you want the salesperson's email address or the specs.

 

[Jestjoan]

David, we're just getting the box, keyboard and mouse. We have a flat screen monitor and speakers. I hope we won't be sorry about this purchase with Vista.


A good place to get RAM (recommended by local university techs) is www.4allmemory.com We used them to upgrade the 8200 previously.

Thanks for all your help, everyone. If you don't see me posting, blame Vista not Canada.

 

[Icarus]

yeah, RDRAM is ridiculously expensive and not worth buying today unless you can find it used and cheap.

Intel supported RDRAM for one generation of it's chipsets, but that didn't last very long. They quickly came out with a second chipset that support both standards and then it wasn't long until RDRAM support went away on the Intel chipsets. I vaguely recall that you could buy riser cards that plugged into the memory slots if you wanted to use the other memory standard at the time.

RAMBUS was very litigious and sued everybody they could for patent violations. I think they shot themselves in the foot. They are still around, making money by suing companies. Every now and then you hear that they have some faster memory standard, but nobody is interested.

-David